Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury, John Lennon, Tupac Shakur Documentaries Sell Wide for BBC Studios

With his signature track Grace Kelly, infectious energy and bouncy curls, Mika was one of the standout stars of the noughties.The popstar, now 38, was hailed as the "next Freddie Mercury" and topped the charts both in the UK and the US. His most famous hits include Love Today, (Big Girls) You Are Beautiful and We Are Golden. However, more recently the singer had slipped off our radar until the news arrived that he would be hosting this year's Eurovision song contest in Italy.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterBBC Studios Americas has named former Univision public relations head Rosemary Mercedes as senior vice president of communications of the content company.In this role, Mercedes will be responsible for refining and elevating the company’s positioning in the marketplace while promoting its partnerships and activities across the industry. Her position is effective immediately and she reports to BBC Studios senior vice president of global communications, Gavin Dawson, from New York.BBC Studios Americas has recently expanded its relationships with partners and launched OTT and subscription services, as well as licensing over 1,500 hours of content in the last year alone, including “I May Destroy You,” “Small Axe,” “The Green Planet” and hit kids show “Bluey.” “Rosemary has extensive experience leading communications strategy development and media relations, content publicity, internal communications, diversity & inclusion strategies and reputation management,” Dawson said.

National Geographic has signed up BBC Studios’ Factual boss Tom McDonald, the exec and commissioner behind some of the UK’s biggest natural history series including Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticThere’s something missing from Adrian Lyne’s “Deep Water,” and it’s not just the body of Martin McRae, the last unfortunate rival to get a little too friendly with Vic Van Allen’s wife. Vic (Ben Affleck) and Melinda (Ana de Armas) have an open marriage, but her … distractions have a habit of disappearing, and so do pretty much all ties to recognizable human behavior in the “Fatal Attaction” director’s unexpectedly cool-headed adaptation of the 1957 Patricia Highsmith novel for Hulu.

Sharon Horgan & Michael Sheen To Lead Jack Thorne’s ‘Best Interests’

Reading & Leeds has announced a wave of new additions for its 2022 festivals – check out the line-up below.The dual-site event will return to Little John’s Farm in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds on August Bank Holiday Weekend (August 26-28). Any remaining tickets are available from here (Reading) and here (Leeds).This year’s R&L will once again boast six headliners: Arctic Monkeys, Rage Against The Machine, Dave, Bring Me The Horizon, Halsey and Megan Thee Stallion.

The 1980 comedy hit 9 To 5 came at a crucial turning point for women in the workplace. Star/Producer Jane Fonda explains in the new documentary of its creation and the movement that spawned it, that she and producting partner Bruce Gilbert wanted to do a serious film on the struggle women had endured for decades, but instead decided that to get anyone to pay attention the only way to do it was with laughs. Thus a smash hit comedy was born, initially with a screenplay by Patricia Resnick that as she explained was met with creative differences, and then later saw its problems solved when ironically a man, the late Colin Higgins (Harold And Maude) came in to write and direct the final film.

Bloom Twins have covered John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ for UNICEF – listen to it below.It’s part of a campaign to help raise money for UNICEF’s #IMAGINE initiative that aims to unite “millions of people to raise awareness and funds for children’s rights globally.”The duo wrote: “Imagine a better world for children where EVERY child can play in peace. This is our solo version of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’.You can listen to it here:Speaking to NME recently, Bloom Twins’ Anna Kuprienko spoke out about the war in Ukraine and urged people “to something to stop this.”It comes after Ukraine severed diplomatic ties with Russia and declared martial law after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on the neighbouring nation last month (February 24).“It’s important to strike for change,” Kuprienko told NME. “Now is the time for push for that.

ScreenSkills Invests £10M In UK High-End TV

Freddie Mercury.In the post’s caption, the actor wrote: “This was sent to me from a friend. C’est moi at university about 42 years ago.

Naman Ramachandran London-based documentary specialist Dogwoof has deepened its involvement with “Copa ’71,” directed by Rachel Ramsay (“Clarkson’s Farm”) and James Erskine (“Billie”). Dogwoof financed the project’s development through its production vehicle TDog and will now take it to market at the upcoming CPH:FORUM, CPH:DOX’s financing and co-production event, in March.“Copa ’71” recounts the story of the 1971 Women’s World Cup, one of the most successful female soccer tournaments of all time, where lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage, merchandise on every street corner and over 100,000 fans turned the historic Azteca stadium in Mexico City into a cauldron of noise while a fawning media treated the players like rock stars.

Netflix APAC Commissions

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios has inked its first major factual multi-year content deal in Italy with Mediaset, the country’s top private generalist TV network. The BBC’s long-term agreement with Mediaset covers first-window exclusive pre-sales in Italy of its natural history shows including its upcoming “Frozen Planet II,” “Dynasties II” and “Planet Earth III.” The Mediaset package deal also comprises providing an additional annual 25 hours of content for Mediaset’s Focus Channel, for an unspecified number of years.

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, has set a content deal with MX Player, India’s largest AVOD service, which also has a strong reach across Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan. The partnership kicks off with Simon Allen‘s “The Watch,” a series inspired by the characters in Terry Pratchett’s bestselling “Discworld” novels, which follows an unlikely group of misfits, The City Watch, who are forced to find the guts to save the world, surprising even themselves in the process; and “Line of Duty” creator Jed Mercurio‘s “Critical,” set in a major trauma center that only deals with the most serious cases, following an emergency medical team that battles through the vital first hour of care to save lives that hang in balance.

Fremantle International Bolsters Scripted

Major European distributors BBC Studios, All3Media and ITV Studios have put trade with Russia on pause in light of the escalating situation in Ukraine.

BBC Studios And Sky Deutschland Strike Factual Content Deal

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios and Sky Deutschland have agreed an output deal for factual content in Germany.The long-term partnership agreement will see Sky Deutschland as the pay TV home for BBC Studios premium factual content in Germany, which will include 150 hours of factual titles from the BBC Studios catalogue. The factual output from BBC Studios can be seen on Sky Deutschland’s Sky Nature and Sky Documentaries channels.BBC Studios titles acquired under the deal include “Greta Thunberg A Year to Change the World,” “Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic,” “David Attenborough: The Sound of Nature” and “Primates.” In 2019, BBC Studios signed a partnership with Germany’s ZDF to produce factual shows, which includes the upcoming “Green Planet” presented by David Attenborough, alongside co-developing scripted TV series.